Changes

I recently came across a blog critique swap sponsored by the gals at Truly Lovely.  I thought this would be a great opportunity to get some feedback on my blog with what works and what could be changed.  Basically, the way it worked was that each participant critiqued two blogs.  So, I looked at two new blogs and two different people looked at mine.  Special thanks to Alyx and Stephany for reviewing my blog.

Crafterminds

Both critiques had some helpful tips that I'll be utilizing in the coming days.  To be honest, my blog has kind of been thrown together and I just add whatever, whenever I feel like it.  I do have the overall school theme, but this does lead people to think I homeschool (I don't).  So, I'm trying to come up with a new header that incorporates the "everything under one roof" idea that I have envisioned for my blog and the one-room school concept.

Both bloggers suggested adding "About Me" and "Contact Me" pages, so I'm working on that and should have them up in the near future.  (Any tutorial suggestions for creating tabs?)  I had never thought about things like watermarking my photos, but it makes sense, so I'll be trying that out, too.  (Again, tutorials?)  Another comment suggested using a less cutesy font for my posts.  Again, something that didn't bother me, but I don't want to turn other people away from my blog.

One aspect of this process that surprised me was that not every blogger out there has ads.  I know, it's probably a silly observation, but it was kind of a lightbulb moment for me.  I've tried to pattern my blog after some of my favorite bigger name blogs.  They all have ads, so I've put buttons on my sidebar.  I figured that was just what you did as a blogger.  However, I liked the less cluttered look of the blogs I critiqued, so I'm considering moving my "favorite inspirations" buttons to a separate page.

What do you do to get feedback on your blog?  Any additional suggestions for me?